Just a number

Once you reach a certain age, there’s often a tendency to want to downplay your previous work experience. Wrong move, says career consultant Edward Bracks, who specializes in placing executives in financial firms in New York and New Jersey. “It’s wise to play up your experience,” says Bracks. “People looking for jobs are always going to run into interviewers and managers who won’t be able to get past their age so let’s just admit that up-front. But a strong job candidate is more likely to run into a manager in need of a specific skill or a specific strength, and that’s where that experience comes in.”

Delta Wilson, a former trainer for United Airlines in Chicago, says when used correctly, experience trumps all other attributes and can be used to secure most jobs.

“Anyone can be enthusiastic. Anyone can be aggressive. Anyone can say they work well with others,” Wilson says. “How many people can say ‘been there and done that?’ You add that experience to any other trait, whether it’s confidence, creativity — whatever — and you’re looking at the ideal candidate.”

And if you get an opportunity for an interview, Wilson says older applicants should remember to be themselves. “Online, there may be a tendency to be too casual. In person, we’d see men come in with ridiculous shirts and women come in wearing borderline inappropriate clothing, just so they could look young,” she says. “If you try to look like someone you’re not, you’ll look ridiculous.”

Tim O’Brien, a 61-year-old accountant from Arlington, Texas, says his current employer hired him three years ago. While he was a bit nervous about his age, he soon found it worked to his benefit. I was the 58-year-old guy who came in and fixed everything they’d been doing wrong the past five years,” he says. “I’m OK with that.”